Process of and apparatus for distilling



J. T. FENTON. A PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR,29.192I. 1 A24, 998. t d Aug- 8, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Thc/vnaslab J. T. FENTON.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29. 1921.

a SHEETS SHEET 2.

hiw

J. T. FENTON.

PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1921.

Patented Aug. & 1922.

I SHEETS-SHEET 3.

versa, steam in the coil).

are a" raoonss-or am) arra'r'us non nrs'rrnnr'ne.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 11222.

Application filed March 29, 1921. Serial No. 455,581.

To all wia om it may concern Be it known that 1, JAMES T. FEN'roN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Salt Lake City, in the countyof Salt Lake and State of Utah, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of and Apparatus for Distilling, of whichthefollowing is a specification.

The present invention particularly relates to a topping still, that isto say, a still adapted for distilling the very light oil fraction, suchas gasoline, from mineral oil withoutproducing any cracking, or at leastany substantial amount of cracking, of the oil. The objects of theinvention are to completely remove the most volatile ingredients fromthe mineral oil all in one operation, and to do this without depositinany carbon or like material in the still and to so regulate the inflowand outflow as to make the separation complete, while avoiding any.overheating, and to accomplish these results in a regular. steady, safeand economical manner.

For the accomplishment of the above objects, the apparatus shown in theannexed drawing is found to give excellent results. In said drawingFigure 1 represents avertical side elevation, partly in section, of anapproved apparatus. Figure 2 represents a view on the line 2-2 lookingin the direction ofthe arrow. Figure 3 represents a front view of a weirand an adjustablegate which co-operates therewith. Figure 4 represents asection taken approximately on the line 4-4 of Figure 3. Figure 5represents a fragmentary section on the line 5-5 looking downwardly.Figure 6 shows a modified form of construction in vertical section ofone of the steps in the distilling process. Figure 7 represents afurther modification of the steps of the still.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: Oil, for example crudemineral oil or preferably crude mineral oil after the sediment has beensuitably removed, is introduced through the pipe 10 into a preheater 11.this consisting of a box provided with one or more coils 12, the oilpassing downwardly through the coils 12, and steam flowing upwardlythrough the spaces l l'and the exhaust steam flowing out at (or vice Theoil flows through the pipe 16, provided with an expansion curve 17, andpreferably through a by-pass 18 in which is located a butterfly valve19, regulated as described below, entering through the nipple 20 intothe space 21, below'baflie B back of weir 22. The oil overflowing theweir passes downwardly over a series of steps consisting of risers 23and treads 24 into the well 25. The said well contains a float 26carried by the rod 27, which rod is rigidly connected to a shaft 28passingthrough a stufling box 29 to a point outside the still. Attachedrigidly to the shaft 28 is an arm 30 which in turn is connected to a rod31, rocker arm 32 (pivoted at 83), rod 34, rocker arm 35 (pivoted at 36)and rod 37 to another rod 38 which operates the butterfly valve 19. Theoil outlet from Well 25 consists of a pipe 39 which leads the treatedoil to a storage tank or to a lace for further treatment thereof.

he vapors liberated in the still pass through a reflux vapor outlet pipe40 past a thermostat 41 located at the upper end thereof, into a seriesof condenser coils 42 and 43 and the .uncondensed gases are drawn oif at'44 to be collected for use for any desired process. The condensate isdrawn off through the trapped outlets 45 and 46.

The heating of the oil is efiected by means of steam enterin throughpipe and preferably flowing tirough a by-pass 51 past a valve 52, whichvalve is controlled by the thermostat' ll through a train of connections41 in such a way that the top boiling point of the distillate ismaintained constant. The steam enters the space between the steps 23 and24 and the bottom 53, flowing upwardly therethrough, and the weir 22 ispreferably made hollow so that this likewise will be kept full of steam.The steam leaving the upper end of the steam space of the still flowsout by-the pipe 54 provided with an expansion curve 55, and enters thesteam space 14 of the preheater, finally being drawn off at 15. It isunderstood that suitable drawing-off outlets 56 and 57 for water ofcondensation will be provided. I a

In distillin the gasoline fraction from crude petroleum the top 58 ofthe still may be shaped as illustrated in full lines. However. it ispreferable. in some cases, to make the left hand end -(in Figure 1)square at the top as shown in dotted lines at 59 and 60 (see Fig. 4). I

Placed above the weir 22 there is preferably provided an adjustable gate61 as shown in Figure 3, this being vertically adjustable at each end,by means of the screws 62 and 63; the said screws co-operating withblocks M'carried by the said gate.

It is advisable that the opening, or slot, between the gate 61 and theweir 22 be of uniform width or height and also that this opening beexactly level. The idea of this opening is to cause the oil being fedinto the distilling chamber to spread out uniformly over the steps 23and 24:. The gate is raised or lowered by the screws as above indicated,suitable slides 66 and 67 being provided for this gate.

For the purpose of bringing the top of the weir 22 into a properlyhorizontal position the still is provided with legs 69, 70, 71 and 72,-each of which is provided with a leveling. screw. The screws carried bythese legs are also capable of regulating the amount of incline of thestill itself, and the treads 24 may be thereby caused to slope slightlyeither forwards or backwards, if desired, or they may be made exactlylevel.

The lower edge of the gate, as shown in Figure 4, is preferably madebeveled to more readily adjust the flow of the oil. The weir 22 may bemade hollow as above described for being filled with steam or, in someinstances, it is advisable to make this solid, for example of cast ironor the like.

There may be provided in the well 25 a second thermostat device asillustrated at 80, this being connected by a train of connections 80* toa valve 81 in the oil inlet and placed to the right of the valve 19.

In case the steam supply should, for any reason, be decreased or cut 01fthis thermostat will close the valve 81 and thereby stop the feed of oilto the device. When the steam is again turned .on and the temperature inthe well is raised to the. proper amount the valve 81 will again open,rendering the process continuous.- In this manner any irregularities inthe steam supplyare readily compensated for in an automatic I i it isdesired to do so the automatic regulation of the flow of oil and steammay be dispensed with, the oil flowing through the valve 86 in pipe 87,and the steam flowing through valve 88 in pipe 89, these valves beingsuitably regulated by hand.

The entire heated portions of the apparatus may be provided with asuitable heat insulating coverin if desired to prevent loss of heat byra iation.

It will be observed that the film of oil is continuous, and that thesame flows over a cascade system or cataract system, the same comprisingessentially a highly heated surface, the heating agent being on one sideof the metal or other suitable plates forming this heating surface andthe oil being on level position.

aeeaeee to the oil which has already been heated to a high degree.

I have above referred to superheated steam as the preferred heatingagent. This steam may be at any temperature even up to 1000 F, and maybe supplied at any suitable pressures say 5 to 100 pounds more or less.While I have particularly described superheated steam as the preferredheating agent I do not desire to be considered as restricting theinvention to the use of this agent since hot gases orv vapors(superheated elastic vapors) can be employed in like manner.

I call attention to the fact that when metal plates or sheet metalarticles are heated there is always considerable likelihoodof sometorsion eifects produced by the expansion. This may in some instancescause theweir 22 to expand and reduce the space between this weir andthe gate 61.

This is readily compensated for by raisingthe process of distillation bypassing the oil through a continuously flowing cataract still, theheating agent, preferably steam, being supplied and brought intoheat-conduct ing relationship with the oil on the counterflow rincipleas above more fully described.

I c aim:

1. An apparatus adapted for use as an oil topping still, having astepped bottom, an oil inlet, an overflow weir adjacent said inlet, anda vertically movable gate over said weir, each end of said gate beingvertically adj ustable.- 4

2. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber, an oil inlet to saidchamber, a transverse weir located near said inlet, a vertically movablegate over said weir, means for adjusting each end ofsaid ateindependently, supports for said cham er, and leveling screwscooperating with said supports to bring the top of said weir to a- 3. Anoil still comprising a distilling chamber having a stepped bottomsurface over which the oil flows in a film of substantially uniformdepth in one direction, an oil inlet at one end .of said chamber, an oilwell at the other end of the chamber, means foradmitting a heating agentto the e -teases opposite side of said stepped bottom surface so thatitwill flow in a direction opposite to the flow of oil, and means forcontrolling the admission of oil to the chamber by the temperature ofoil in said well.

4. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber having a stepped bottomsurface over which the oil flows in a film of substantially uniformdepth in one direction, an oil in'let at one end of said chamber, an oilwell at the other end of the chamber, means for admitting a heatingagent to the opposite side of said stepped bottom surface so that itwill flow in a direction opposite to the flow of oil, and means forcontrolling the admission of oil to the chamber by the depth of oil insaid well.

5. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber having a stepped bottomsurface over which the oil fiows in a film of substantially uniformdepth in one direction. an oil inlet at one end of said chamber, an oilWell at the other end of the chamber. means for admitting a heatingagent to the opposite side of said stepped bottom surface so that itwill flow in a direction opposite to the flow of oil, means forcontrolling the admission of oil to the chambervby the temperature ofthe oil in said Well, and separate means for controlling the admissionof oil to the chamber by the depth of the oil in said well.

6. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber, an oil inlet pipe atone end of said chamber and an oil well at the other end thereof, twovalves in said inlet pipe. means governed by the depth of the oil insaid well for controlling one of said valves, and means governed b thetemperature of the oil in said well or controlling the other valve.

7. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber, an oil inlet pipe atone end of said chamber and an oil Well at the other end thereof, anirregular surface over one side of which the oil flows in a film ofsubstantially uniform depth from the inlet to the Well, means foradmitting a heating agent to the opposite side of said irregularsurface, means for conducting said heating agent in a direction oppositeto the flow of the oil, and means for controlling the heating agent bythe temperature of the distilled vapors. j

8. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber, an oil inlet pipe atone end of said chamber and an oil well at the other end thereof, anirregular surface over one side of which the oil flows in a film ofsubstantially uniform depth from the inlet to the Well, means foradmitting a heating agent to the opposite side of said irregularsurface, means for conducting said heating agent in a direction oppositeto the flow of the oil, means for controlling the heating agent by thetemperature of the distilled vapoi-s, and means for controlling theadmis sion of oil to the chamber by the temperature of the oil.

9. An oil still comprising a distilling chamber, an oil inlet pipe atone end of said chamber and an oil Well at the other end thereof, anirregular surface over one side of which the oil flows in a film ofsubstantially uniform depth from the inlet to the well, means-foradmitting a heating agent to the opposite side of said irregularsurface. means for conducting said heating agent in a direction oppositeto the flow of the oil, means for controlling the heating agent by thevtemperature of the distilled vapors, means for controlling the admissionof oil to the chamber by the temperature of the oil, and separate meansfor controlling admission of oil by the amount of oil in said chamber.

10. A process of distilling hydrocarbon oil which comprises passing afilm of the oil over a steam heated irregular surface while maintainingsubstantially uniformity of depth throughout, regulating the admissionof oil to said surface by the depth of oil at the outlet, and also bythe temperature of the oil at said outlet, and regulating the admissionof steam to said surface by the temperature of the distilled vapors.

11. A process of distilling hydrocarbon oil which comprises passing afilm of the oil over an irregular surface. passing steam over theopposite side of said surface, regulating the admission of oil to saidsurface by the depth of oil at the outlet and also by the temperature ofoil at said outlet, and regulating the admission of steam to saidsurface by the temperature of the distilled vapors.

12. A process of distilling hydrocarbon oil which comprises passing afilm of oil over one side of an irregular surface in one direction,passing a heating agent over the opposite side of said surface in theopposite direction, regulating the admission of oil to said surface bythe temperature of the oil, and regulating the admission of the heatingagent to said surface by the temperature of the distilled vapors.

13. A process of distilling hydrocarbon oil which comprises passing afilm of oil over one side of an irregular surface in one direction,passing a heating agent over the opposite side of said surface in theopposite direction, regulating the admission of oil to said surface bythe temperature of the oil, regulating the admission of the heatingagent to said surface by the temperature of the distilled vapors, andpreheating said oil before admission to said surface.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JAMES T. FENTON.

